May 29 2009, 11:34 am PT | Posted in: Drugs
I have been on Propecia for 2 years; I am 45 years old and have seen no improvement in my hair. I am somewhere between a NW 2 and a NW 3. The fontal forlock has thinned significantly while on Propecia. In your practice have you seen any patients quit Propecia and not get any worse or do most people experience increased hair loss once they go off the medication?
Also, I would do a hair transplant immediately if I was confident that I could go back to work undetected after 2 weeks. It would be a big help to get your thoughts on this as I think this is probably the biggest reason people do not get transplants. Perhaps post some pictures of patients at 14 days. Your blog is great and NHI would be my choice once I decide to take the plunge
Assuming that you have the balding gene and a HairDX finasteride response test indicates that you have an average sensitivity to Propecia, then I would expect that you, like many other men, had their hair loss stabilized on the drug. If that is the case, then you can assume that you may very well lose hair by stopping the Propecia. The series of steps and events are important in the building of a good Master Plan so that whatever happens, it will be planned for. I am sure you can see a series of potential scenarios here, so a good working relationship with your doctor is all important.
Here are some previously posted examples of patients just days after surgery:
- Female Hair Transplant (2 Weeks Post)
- Norwood 6 Patient (10 Days Post)
- Scabs After a Hair Transplant (11 Days Post)
- Norwood 3v Patient (10 Days Post)
- Norwood 5 Patient (12 Days Post)
- 2 Different Patients (1 Day and 10 Days Post)
- Hair Transplant (10 Days Post)
- Hair Transplant (2 Weeks and 5 Months Post)
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Related Entries
- Stopping Minoxidil After Just 3 Months
- Propecia Is Working Well in My Hairline, But Not So Much in the Crown
- I’ve Been Taking Propecia for 3 Weeks — When Will I See Improvement?
- If I Don’t See Improvement with Minoxidil 2%, Should I Switch to 5%?
- No Improvements After 18 Months on Propecia — Should I Continue Taking It?
Balding Forum
Its too bad Dr. Rassman didn’t answer the second part of your question. I too am very much interested in having a procedure that won’t be detected. If you go over to http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/Default.asp
you can look up lots of people’s transplants. Many post pics daily following their procedure for the first few weeks. This should hopefully give you some idea.
Now of course each person is different. Some have the redness gone completely by 2 weeks, for others, it takes months to decrease sufficiently. If you look at individual doctors though, you can start to see a pattern I think. Some doctors seem to be able to perform the procedure with less bruising and the associated pinkness which is gone fairly quickly. Also, some doctors feel the need to completely shave the area, and others are willing to work around the hair. I’m sure this very much depends on how much hair you have left, but I say if there is enough to cover up the transplant, I’d want it left.
Lastly, shockloss is also another consideration it seems like. For some people, both the donor and/or recipient areas can actually cause the hairs that are still there to fall out. Dr. Rassman has stated in the past though that being on Finnasteride should decrease this risk greatly, especially for younger men. I would like to know what the factors are myself. Would a small procedure to just add a little fullness to the hairline decrease the chance of shockloos because its less invasive than doing lots of work in one area? I’m hoping this is the case. It would be scary to add a few hundred grafts to the hairline in between the hair that you already have to only have it fall out in the first month before the transplanted hair gets a chance to grow in.
But the way I see it, there is no point in waiting until an area is bald to transplant into it. I wish I saw more procedures where patients just get their existing thinning areas transplanted into without really adding any new coverage to an area that is completely bald. I think there are lots of people out there who would benefit from a few hundred grafts, taken out via the FUE method for a less complicated procedure and transplanted into the hairline to “beef” it up. You’d have no scar to worry about, the hair you still have would cover up the pinkness nicely once the scabs fall out, and hopefully in about 4 months, the hair that is just growing in would compliment the longer native hairs nicely to add volume and density.
For the record, Dr. Rassman from the pics I’ve seen has excellent low bruising and scarring, and since he practically invented FUE with Dr. Bernstein in New York, he’d be the one to go to. Too bad I can’t afford him!!! LOL…. Also, hopefully its not inappropriate of me to post this, but Dr. Feller in New York does have such a procedure, 200 grafts via FUE over the lunch hour for $2000. Perhaps Dr. Rassman can offer something similiar???
Hope this helps!
Oops, I didn’t mean to skip the 2nd part. I’ve posted post-op photos many times. I’ve updated the post (see above).